From one aspect, the present invention relates to a material suitable for use in the surfacing of the ground or of a floor, including the formation of sports surfaces, which term is used herein to embrace pitches and courts for ball games, tracks on which people, animals and machines race, landing areas for jumpers and vaulters, arenas for equestrian events, training areas and areas where recreational activities take place. Reference herein to the surfacing of the ground and of floors also includes the deliberate formation on the ground or on a floor of surface layers which have a predetermined area and are intended to be used as a surface layer, as distinct from the storage of material in a heap on the ground or on a floor. Such surface layers and sports surfaces are hereinafter referred to collectively as surfaces of the kind described.
It is known to use for the surfacing of the ground a pile fabric to form a sports surface, for example a football pitch. It has been proposed that polypropylene should be used to form the pile of pile fabric used for the purpose. It is also known to apply sand to pile fabric used for this purpose, so that lower parts of the pile are submerged in a layer of sand.
In GB 2,185,490A, published July 22nd 1987, there is described a substitute ground surface material comprising particles of sand coated with a petroleum oil fraction in which there has been dissolved ethylene vinyl acetate. The petroleum fraction is said to have a consistency proximating to a soft grease at ambient temperatures. The published specification indicates that other polymers may be substituted for the ethylene vinyl acetate. It is suggested in the published specification that particles of cork or particles of synthetic or natural rubber may be added to the treated sand.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a surfacing composition which is more suitable for sports and recreational activities in general than is the composition disclosed in GB 2,185,490A.